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Don Stober
Don Stober is a main character and major supporting protagonist of the 1976 natural horror/thriller film Grizzly. He was a Vietnam War veteran and helicopter pilot who worked as a professional forest guide in the national park he lived in all his life. Background Don Stober was born in the area of the national park in the film and grew up hunting in the area all his life, gaining enough skill to become a professional hunter and forest guide. When the Vietnam War broke out, Don joined the army and killed 200 men during the course of the war. After the war, he promised never to kill again and decided to devote to being a professional forest guide. Grizzly Helicopter pilot Don Stober lived the national park and made his debut in the film giving a pair of senators from Washington a tour of the forest in his helicopter. Explaining that the area was the same as it was when the indians were still wandering around in it, Don told the senators that he believed that if any further encroachment was done in the area, the natural beauty of the landscape would be destroyed and encouraged them and, by extension, the government to protect the area so that it would remain as it was forever. After a killer bear in the area had killed three victims, Don's friend, Chief Park Ranger Micheal Kelly, requested that he help the rangers find the animal, and Don agreed. Don took Kelly with him out on his helicopter and discussed the problems Kelly and his men were having in tracking the bear. Don suggested that the bear may have a favorite hideout cave, but Kelly said that the reason they couldn't find it was because it kept moving and had a few billion acres to cover his tracks. Don asked if Kelly had been able to lock into any of the bears patterns and made a humorous remark following his answer. When Kelly alerted him that he had seen something below, Don flew lower and landed when they seemed to have found the bear, only for it to turn out to be their friend, naturalist Arthur Scott, who had been tracking the bear. Scott informed the men that the bear was not a big brown, but rather a prehistoric Grizzly bear(a fictional Artodus ursos horribilis, based of the real life Artodus simus), standing fifteen feet tall. While Don and Kelly both scoffed at the notion, Don even making a joke about it being a science-fiction fairytale, both accepted Scott's word. That night, the grizzly attacked and killed another woman, and the next day, Park Supervisor Charley Kittridge allowed a horde of amateur hunters into the forrest. While Don at first thought they might be useful, he, Scott, and Kelly drove back and confronted Kittridge in his office, where Don and Scott stayed silent as Kelly argued with Kittridge. Afterwards, Scott took Don to get his helicopter and gear after a ranger named Tom informed them that the grizzly had attacked a hunter that managed to get away. That night, after conversing with Kelly and Scott, Don accompanied them and Kelly's rangers into the park. After they found a trio of hunters who had attempted to use a bear cub as live bait for the grizzly, Don asserted that they had used the best kind of bait there was to use. When Scott stated that the grizzly was a male, Don humorously asked if he had found that out peeking. After Kelly agreed to let the hunters help them and instructed them to go to a nearby pass, Don added on that they should come down on the ridge and make alot of noise so as to try and drive the grizzly towards them after Scott confirms it could still be around that area. Afterwards, Don struck up a conversation with Scott regarding grizzlies and told him a story about a tribe of indians that onced lived in the forest and were devoured by a herd of grizzlies one winter while layed up sick when Scott doubted that the grizzly could still be hungry at that moment just because it was a man-eater. When Scott requested that he be allowed a chance to capture the grizzly on his own, Don joked around about wanting to call his mother, saying he thought the news of her son's current doings would disappoint her. Unintentionally, Don angered Scott, who said that she would have been even more disappointed if he had been her son. The two didn't speak again for the rest of the film. The next day, while searching with Kelly, the pair were alerted by Ranger Tom that the grizzly was assaulting his lookout tower, and they rushed with several rangers to his rescue, but arrived too late to help, as the grizzly knocked over the tower and killed him, Don checking to see if he was dead. After Kelly managed to close the park with Kittridge's consent after an attack in town, Don and Kelly loaded up his helicopter with various supplies and weapons, including a rocket launcher, Don asserting that this felt like being in Vietnam all over again. When Kelly thanked him for being so generous about helping him, Don told him he was getting it. Commenting on how ironic this all felt to him, Don told Kelly of his experiences during the Vietnam War and how he had killed 200 hundred men, saying it caused him to loose the desire to kill and that he promised never to do so again, not even flies. As Kelly apologized for putting him in a position where he might have to kill, Don declined, saying this was his choice and that he could have said no. Asking where Scott was, Don was informed that he had gone out to find the grizzly on his own, causing Don to say he was a "weird boy". Flying up country with Kelly, Don asked him what made him think that the grizzly was really moving back up country, saying this one strayed into town upon hearing his answer. When Kelly voiced his opinion that it had just got lost and wanted to go home, Don humorously asked if they were to help him do so. The two shoot and gut a buck deer, drag it downwind, and hang it in a tree. Afterwards Don returned to his helicopter to get the rest of his gear, while Kelly started on their blind. Later, as they laid wait, Kelly suddenly shouted out that the grizzly was on the run. The two gave chase, but lost it, and Don said they should get back to the helicopter. They stopped back by the blind, and saw that the grizzly had tricked them and stolen their bait. Saying it was too late to start tracking the grizzly, Don and Kelly returned to the chopper. Once there, they built a fire, and Don told a humorous joke to Kelly when he decided to take the first watch of the night, before laying down with his rifle by his helicopter. The next day, after Kelly talked with Scott on the radio, they flew to his location to try and save him when he found their bait and decided to drag to the halfway point between them, but they arrived too late, as the grizzly had already attacked and killed him. Saddened, Don and Kelly burry Scott's body and radio in his coordinates to have his body picked up Taking back to the air, Don reflected on the irony of how a man's feeling can go up and down like a yoyo, saying he was ready to kill again and couldn't hardly wait and that he liked Scott and never mean't him any insult when he joked around with him. Acknowledging this, Kelly told Don that he and Scott were a lot alike. Pointing out on the grid map that the grizzly was heading towards its first kill, Don told Kelly it was programed like a computer for reasons unknown. As Kelly spotted the grizzly beneath them, Don angrily flew lower and began to chase the grizzly, saying they should give it a run for its money. Eventually terrifying the animal, Don suggested that they use the rocket launcher to blast the grizzly, but Kelly told him to land, saying the beast was too scared to come out again. As Don landed, he grabbed the wrong rifle from behind him and started to get out of his helicopter, only to be thrown clean when the grizzly attacked it from behind. As it turned on Kelly, Don shot it twice, emptying his rifle and causing the grizzly to turn on him. Realizing he could not help himself by running, Don turned the rifle around to use it as a club and stood his ground as the grizzly approached him. Kelly began to shoot the grizzly from behind as it reared up on its hind legs, and Don hit the bear in the face as it got close, but it grabbed him, and despite Kelly's desperate attempts to save him, Don was crushed to death in the grizzly's forearms. After Kelly blew the grizzly to pieces with the rocket launcher, he walked over to Don's body and quietly mourned the loss of his friend. Skills Don was a very skilled hunter, guide, and helicopter pilot, owning his own helicopter, which he used to give tours of the national park he lived on and was a skilled enough hunter to be considered a professional. His skills as a pilot and hunter came very much in handy in the hunt for the grizzly when it began its killing spree. The fact that his friend, Chief Park Ranger Micheal Kelly, wanted him to remain in the hunt for the grizzly after banning all other hunters in the area, proves that Don was a very capable ally. He was very knowledgeable about the animals in the woods and knew the forest better than any man in the area, rivaled only by his friend, naturalist Arthur Scott, in that particular way. Don was also a very good soldier, having fought in and survived the Vietnam War, wherein he killed at least 200 men. As a soldier and hunter, Don was very knowledgeable about weapons, providing an adequate hunting rifle for Kelly when he lacked one. Don also had great physical strength, able to hold a full grown buck off the ground by himself. Personality Don was a very humorous individual, having a healthy sense of humor, as shown by his habit of making jokes throughout the film. He cared greatly about his friends, willingly helping Chief Park Ranger Micheal Kelly with the problem grizzly for no pay and giving his own life to save him from the beast when it cornered them. He was also enraged when the grizzly killed Arthur Scott, who Don seemed less friendly with than Kelly, saying he was fond of Scott and that his loss had caused him to want to disobey his no-killing promise willingly. The fact that he made that promise showed that Don was also a very peace-loving man. Don was very brave also, shown when he was mostly unaffected for most of the hunt while being in the presence of the grizzly and in his keeping his composure as he faced his death. He did call out to Kelly for help as it crushed him, but that may have been out of both pain and fear. Category:Characters Category:Heroes Category:Hunters Category:Deceased